Emergency Preparedness
Steps, tools, and resources for community resilience in the face of emergency situations.
Preventing House Heating Fires
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Expecting the Unexpected
The topic of emergency preparedness is becoming increasingly urgent in all communities, and the first step to being ready is accepting that we may have a matter of seconds to gather ourselves, our loved ones, and essential supplies when confronted with an emergency situation. Our level of preparedness may mean life or death in certain scenarios, and there are easy steps we can all take to level up. ROSE acknowledges the shared responsibility to expand awareness of these steps, highlight the impact and importance of these actions, and to provide support through resources, conversations and workshops.
Navigate the tabs below for tools and resources meant to keep you and your loved ones safe and prepared.
Find out which hazards are most likely to affect you and your family by entering an address here: https://www.publicalerts.org/hazards
Get lifesaving alerts & instructions during emergencies by phone or email: https://oralert.gov/
Click on each step to learn more.
Learn About the Hazards in Your Area
Knowledge is power. Expecting the unexpected and acting accordingly is one of the best things you can do for you and your loved ones.
Different places have different risks. You can find out which hazards are most likely to happen in your area here: https://www.publicalerts.org/hazards. Local emergency management agencies and fire departments can help you identify the best ways to prepare for the emergencies that pose a threat to your safety. See more under Community Resources.
Sharing what you’ve learned will be critical when you have conversations with your family, friends and neighbors, and when you begin to make your emergency plan.
Sign up for Alerts and Warnings
Signing up for alerts and warnings is a good first step in your preparedness journey and is the easiest way to know what is happening in your area.
There are several ways to sign up:
For Oregon residents, visit www.oralert.gov to sign up for local emergency alerts.
- This service is offered in 11 languages: English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian, Somali, Romanian, Ukrainian, Japanese, Arabic, and Lao. If possible, it’s recommended to make an emergency preparedness plan with one person who can communicate in English
- Remember to update your contact information whenever it changes.
Ensure your cell phone can accept Wireless Emergency Alerts.
For Apple devices:
- Go to Settings > Notifications > Scroll to the bottom of the screen until you see “Government Alerts” > If the bar is green, it means you have notifications turned on.
For Android devices:
- Got to Settings > Either search “Emergency” or click on “Safety and Emergency” > Make sure that “Earthquake Alerts” and any other alert options are turned on.
Additional Alerts:
- Download the free “MyShake” app to get early earthquake notifications in Oregon, Washington and California.
- Sign up for social media notifications from your local emergency management office on Facebook or X (formerly Twitter).
Start a Conversation with Your Loved Ones
Even though it’s a tough topic, it is easier to talk about it before you’re in the middle of an emergency.”
- Think About the Intention:
Having a conversation about what you should do to prepare for a disaster isn’t an easy talk, but it’s necessary to save lives. Honest and direct conversations can save your life and the people you love. - Be Aware of Disaster that Can Happen in Your Area:
Disasters such as floods and fires can happen anywhere, but others such as hurricanes and earthquakes are more common in certain areas. Oregon is predicted to experience a major earthquake in the next 50 years, and it can happen at any time, so it’s important to prepare now. For a quick look at what hazards are most likely to affect you and your family, enter an address here: https://www.publicalerts.org/hazards - Consider Who Should Join the Conversation:
Preparedness can look a little different for everyone depending on personal circumstances. Think about who you want to include. This can consist of any family members living in your household, older relatives, community members, neighbors, and friends. When dealing with an emergency, it is always better to have more people on your team. - Have the Conversation
Discussing hard topics can provide peace of mind for you, your family, and friends. You can keep the conversation more positive by highlighting your concern for their safety. Share facts that you’ve learned about the disasters that can happen in your area, ask how others feel about preparing and any tips they may have, and share your own tips if you have them. - Take Action Together
Consider taking at least one step to get ready for disasters. Examples include:
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- Signing up for emergency alerts and warnings
- Storing important phone number somewhere besides just your phone (notebook, journal, etc.)
- Visiting Ready.gov/plan for more actions to prepare
Make a Written Plan
Creating an emergency plan is an important task that should involve many people such as your family, friends and neighbors.
Tip: Writing down your emergency plan is the best way to prepare. Use this easy fillable form to create your plan.
1. Make a Household Communication Plan:
Your family may not be together if a disaster strikes, so it’s important to know how you’ll contact one another and reconnect if separated. Here are some important things to consider in your communication plan:
- Out-of-area contact: Who can you connect with that isn’t impacted by the disaster?
- Establish a family meeting place inside your home if you need to take cover indoors.
- In the event that you are not home, establish a meeting place that’s familiar and easy to find such as a neighbor’s house or nearby park. Consider how you will get yourself there. In some circumstances, getting around via bicycle could be the only mode of transportation.
- How to make contact if separated: What is the plan for reaching each other?
- This is where establishing a meeting place is especially important.
- Find your nearest post-earthquake communication center here: BEECN interactive map
- Share your plan: It’s always a good idea to let other family and out-of-state friends know about your plan. This may inspire them to make a plan for themselves, too.
2. Create an Emergency Plan:
Put a plan together by discussing the questions below:
- How will I receive emergency alerts and warnings? See more under Sign up for Alerts and Warnings.
- What is my shelter plan? See more under Sheltering in Place.
- What is my evacuation route? Identify all exit points, both from your home and from your neighborhood.
- Download that FEMA App fir a list of open shelters during an active disaster in your local area.
- Learn more at www.ready.gov/evacuation
- Do I need to update my emergency preparedness kit? See more under Assemble or Update Supplies
- Consider specific needs and responsibilities in your household to tailor your plans and supplies. Discuss these needs and responsibilities with your household and how each person will assist with communication, care of children, business, pets or specific needs like operating medical equipment. Create a personal network where you need assistance.
- Different ages of member within your household
- Responsibilities for assisting others
- Possible locations everyone may be at the time of an emergency (home, school, work, etc.)
- Dietary needs
- Medical needs including prescriptions and equipment
- Disabilities or access and functional needs including devices and equipment
- Languages spoken
- Cultural and religious considerations
- Pets or services animals
- Households with school-aged children
Plan with Neighbors
In times of need, it’s always nice to have a community to lean on.
There is always something to learn from our neighbors about emergency planning, and often we have similar concerns about how best to prepare. Voicing these concerns and sharing different ideas brings us together to create better plans and new networks of communication. The more people who are aware of your plan, the greater your chances of connecting with resources you need if a disaster strikes.
ROSE Community Development is currently in the planning stage of coordinating events, workshops, and other useful activities that will support resident resilience with emergency preparedness and encourage collaboration with neighbors and community partners.
Ways to stay informed about upcoming events:
- Bookmark the Emergency Prep page for new event announcements
- Check the Events tab for a regularly updated calendar
- Sign up for our ROSE Newsletter for announcements on upcoming events
Become Familiar with Local Resources
Community resources are here for you. Knowing what is available may help ease the stress of preparing for and dealing with an emergency.
Keeping up to date with the latest developments can save lives. Identify where you can access reliable information so you can make informed decisions before, during, and after a disaster. See more under Community Resources.
Assemble or Update Go-Kit Supplies
An effective way to remember what to put in your go-kit, is to think about the Six Ps:
- People and pets (food, water, hygiene, sanitation, clothing and comfort items).
- Prescriptions (medications, hearing aids, eyeglasses and medical devices).
- Phones, personal computers, hard drives, disks and chargers.
- Plastic (ATM debit and credit cards) and cash.
- Papers and important documents (photo ID, birth certificates, social security cards, passports, visas, insurance policies, etc.).
- Pictures and other irreplaceable memorabilia.
Visit www.ready.gov and www.redcross.org for more recommended emergency kit items.
In addition to the Six Ps, take the time to think about the possibility of sheltering in place. Disaster preparedness means having enough supplies for everyone in the household to survive for two weeks without electricity, running water and working toilets. Reach out to your local resources for any assistance needed. See more under Know How to Shelter in Place and Community Resources.
Practice Emergency Drills
It’s better to know which parts of your plan won’t work before a disaster happens.
Once you have a plan, practice it! This is the best way to know that your plan will work.
Here are some ways you can practice:
- Walk through your emergency plan every few months to keep everyone’s memory fresh.
- Test the evacuation route out of your home and neighborhood.
- Animals often sense danger before humans and may become agitated before an impending disaster. Practice getting your cat in its carrier or your dog on its leash while moving quickly.
- Take part in the Great ShakeOut (www.shakeout.org), the largest international earthquake drill.
Know How to Shelter in Place
Oregon recommends us be 2 Weeks Ready. That means be prepared to survive without normal access to basic resources for two weeks.
You’ll need to have enough supplies for everyone in the household to survive for two weeks without electricity, running water and working toilets. Reach out to your local resources for any assistance needed.
- Track what your household eats over two weeks, so you have an idea of how much food you’ll need.
- Gather any emergency supplies you may already have, like flashlights, power banks or batteries. You probably have more than you think!
- Specific steps on how to gather supplies are covered more extensively in this Be 2 Weeks Ready Toolkit created by the Oregon Department of Emergency Management.
Whether you are at home, work or anywhere else that you find yourself on a regular basis, there may be situations when it’s best to stay where you are and avoid any uncertainty outside.
- Use common sense and available information to assess the situation and determine if there is immediate danger.
- If you see large amounts of debris in the air, or if local authorities say the air is badly contaminated, you may want to shelter in place.
Here are some tips for sheltering in place:
Note: Local authorities may not immediately be able to provide information on what is happening and what you should do.
- Pay attention to local media outlets for official news and instructions as they become available.
- Bring your family and pets inside.
- Lock doors, close windows, air vents and fireplace dampers.
- Turn off fans, air conditioning and forced air heating systems.
- Take your emergency supply kit unless you have reason to believe it has been contaminated.
- Go into an interior room with few windows if possible.
“Sealing a room” is considered a temporary protective measure to create a barrier between you and potentially contaminated air outside. This type of sheltering in place requires pre-planning, by purchasing plastic sheeting and duct tape that you would keep in your emergency kit.
- Seal all windows, doors and air vents with thick plastic sheeting and duct tape. Consider measuring and cutting the sheeting in advance to save time.
- Cut the plastic sheeting several inches wider than the openings and label each sheet.
- Duct tape plastic at corners first and then tape down all edges.
- Be prepared to improvise and use what you have on hand to seal gaps so that you create a barrier between yourself and any contamination.
Safeguard Documents
Taking steps to safeguard your documents before an emergency strikes can save you a lot of stress and hassle.
Once immediate danger has passed, having your financial and medical records and important contact information will be crucial to help you start the recovery process quickly. Taking time now to safeguard these critical documents will give you peace of mind, ensure you have access to essential medical and prescription information, and help you avoid additional stress during the difficult days following a disaster.
In addition, take the time now to think about the priceless personal items you would want to protect from damage or take with you if you had to suddenly evacuate your home.
- Use this checklist to take an inventory of your household documents, contact, and valuables.
- Visit www.ready.gov/financial-preparedness for tips and more detailed information on these items.
Make Your Home Safer
If an earthquake hits, anything that can move, break, or fall is a potential hazard.
Here are some recommendations for reducing earthquake hazards in your home:
- Store heavy items and breakables on lower shelves
- Locate beds away from windows in case of flying glass
- Securely fasten or relocate heavy pictures and mirrors over beds and furniture
- Strap down televisions and other expensive or hazardous electrical component
- Transfer hanging plans from heavy clay pots to lighter ones and use closed hook on all hanging items
- Secure all tall, top-heavy furniture such as bookcases, wall units, and entertainment centers
- For a more in-depth list of recommendations, here is FEMA’s Earthquake Home Hazard Hunt poster
Being #WinterReady means understanding winter risks you face and taking steps now to prepare.
Did You Know?
Home heating is the second leading cause of home fires, and winter is when most home fires happen.
63%
Temperature-related deaths attributed to cold exposure